Pork Picnic Roast with Apples and Sauerkraut

I wish I had a picture - but then again, this was one of those things where the flavor was wonderful, but a photo might not have done it justice.

I was celebrating the birthday of a good friend and wanted to make a special meal. We just took delivery of some fresh local pork - within the past 2 weeks, so pork was a strong possibility. Then I did our winter pickup from the CSA and got fresh-made sauerkraut - so a meal was born.

1 Pork Picnic Roast - Bone-in 4-5lb.
2-3 cups GOOD Sauerkraut - ours had caraway seeds and juniper berries flavoring it
3-4 tart apples
1 large onion
1/2 C wine - I used chianti, (red wine or cider vinegar can be subbed, but I'd use less)
1Tbsp Mustard (I used dijon, because that's what we had)
pepper
ground coriander

Seasonings to taste.

On the stove-top, I browned the roast on all sides in bacon fat reserved from our breakfast. I used minimal salt (in the form of adobo seasoning powder) for this and no pepper.

In a bowl I combined the peeled, cored, and finely chopped apple with minced onion, mustard, wine, pepper and coriander.

Once the roast was browned I placed it in a ceramic baking bowl I have from Pampered Chef - sort of like a tajien,


I spread the sauerkraut around the roast and the apple/onion mixture on top of that and a little on top of the roast. I put the baker lid on and placed it in a 350 oven until the internal temp was 130/135...then let it rest for about 10 minutes.

I served the pork sliced, with the kraut mixture and roasted rosemary & garlic potato/sweet potato combination on the side.

Everyone loved it, so I guess I have to write down the recipe so I can do it again! Lucky for me I have a place to do that!